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Needle Thoracostomy

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Atlas of Emergency Medicine Procedures

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Abstract

Needle decompression thoracostomy is a procedure used in the emergent treatment of a tension pneumothorax. Tension pneumothorax is a clinical diagnosis. Decompression treatment should not be delayed in order to obtain radiographic confirmation. The following scenarios illustrate some of the clinical signs that may be present in such patients:

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Selected Reading

  • Britten S, Palmer SH. Chest wall thickness may limit adequate drainage of tension pneumothorax by needle thoracocentesis. Emerg Med J. 1996;13:426–7.

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    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Antonios Likourezos, MA, MPH, and Abraham Lederman for assisting with the photographs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Lucas McArthur MD

  2. Department of Emergency Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Christian Fromm MD

Authors
  1. Lucas McArthur MD
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  2. Christian Fromm MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lucas McArthur MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Central Florida, Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Central Florida, Director, SE Specialty Care Centers of Innovation, Orlando Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Orlando, Florida, USA

    Latha Ganti

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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McArthur, L., Fromm, C. (2016). Needle Thoracostomy. In: Ganti, L. (eds) Atlas of Emergency Medicine Procedures. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2507-0_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2507-0_22

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2506-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2507-0

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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